U.S. patent application number 16/938240 was filed with the patent office on 2022-01-27 for lubricating can.
The applicant listed for this patent is Nuevo Products Development Co., Ltd., Yo Lee Auto co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Chao-Ching TSENG, Kun-Wang WANG.
Application Number | 20220026019 16/938240 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005003949 |
Filed Date | 2022-01-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220026019 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
TSENG; Chao-Ching ; et
al. |
January 27, 2022 |
LUBRICATING CAN
Abstract
A lubricating can has a grease cup, bolt, piston, pressing base,
bearing placement portion and a rotation driving component. The
fixed end of the bolt is fixed on the grease cup bottom. The piston
is housed inside the lubricating trough. The piston has a pressing
surface, a bearing surface and a lateral ring surface that is
tightly fitted on and can slide along the inner wall. The center of
the piston is formed with a through hole and a plurality of
lubricating guide holes. The through hole is sheathed on the bolt.
The lower end pressing portion of the pressing base has a screw
hole to fit the bolt. The bearing placement portion is defined and
formed by the space between the lower end pressing portion and the
bearing surface of the piston. The rotation driving component is
configured on the upper end bearing portion of the pressing
base.
Inventors: |
TSENG; Chao-Ching; (Changhua
City, TW) ; WANG; Kun-Wang; (Tainan City,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Nuevo Products Development Co., Ltd.
Yo Lee Auto co., Ltd. |
Changhua City
Tainan City |
|
TW
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005003949 |
Appl. No.: |
16/938240 |
Filed: |
July 24, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16N 19/00 20130101;
F16N 11/02 20130101; F16N 3/10 20130101; F16C 33/6607 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F16N 3/10 20060101
F16N003/10; F16N 19/00 20060101 F16N019/00; F16N 11/02 20060101
F16N011/02; F16C 33/66 20060101 F16C033/66 |
Claims
1. A lubricating can, specially designed to help a user to inject
lubricating grease into the roller unit of a bearing, said bearing
having an axle hole and an external frame, the lubricating can
comprising a grease cup, a bolt, a piston, a pressing base, a
bearing placement portion and a rotation driving component;
wherein: the grease cup has a closed cup bottom, an open cup mouth
and a cylindrical inner wall between the cup bottom and the cup
mouth, a lubricating trough is defined and formed inside the grease
cup, and the lubricating trough is used to hold the lubricating
grease; the bolt is fixed inside the lubricating trough; the bolt
has a fixed end and an extension end, wherein the fixed end is
connected and fixed in the center of the cup bottom, and the
extension end extends toward the cup mouth for a preset length; the
bolt is formed with guiding threads; the piston is housed inside
the lubricating trough, capable of moving up and down under a
force; the piston has a pressing surface and a bearing surface
opposite each other, and a lateral ring surface connecting the
peripheries of the pressing surface and the bearing surface; in
particular, the bearing surface faces upward toward the cup mouth,
and the pressing surface faces downward toward the cup bottom; the
pressing surface is to press the lubricating grease held in
lubricating trough; the lateral ring surface is configured with at
least one ring seal; the at least one ring seal and the cylindrical
inner wall are pressed against each other in a slidable fashion;
the center of the piston is formed with a through hole that goes
through the pressing surface and the bearing surface; the through
hole is sheathed on the bolt from the extension end of the bolt,
and the through hole fits the bolt loosely, so that, relatively,
the piston is not driven by the bolt; the piston is formed with a
plurality of lubricating guide holes on the periphery of the
through hole lined up in a circle with intervals; a plurality of
lubricating guide holes goes through the pressing surface and the
bearing surface; the pressing base comprises an upper end bearing
portion and a lower end pressing portion, wherein, in the center of
the lower end pressing portion, a screw hole is formed upward; the
screw hole fits the guiding threads formed on the bolt; the lower
end pressing portion faces the bearing surface of the piston; the
upper end bearing portion is located above the cup mouth of the
grease cup; the bearing placement portion is defined and formed by
the space between the lower end pressing portion of the pressing
base and the bearing surface of the piston; the bearing placement
portion is for placement of the bearing; the lower end pressing
portion of the pressing base presses downward and seals the axle
hole of the bearing; the external frame of the bearing presses
downward on the bearing surface of the piston, and defines and
forms a closed lubricating margin; and the rotation driving
component is configured on the upper end bearing portion of the
pressing base; the rotation driving component can rotate when the
user applies a force, and can drive the pressing base to rotate and
move up and down.
2. The lubricating can defined in claim 1, wherein the bearing
surface of the piston is configured in the shape of a bell mouth,
with its upper end diameter larger than its lower end diameter.
3. The lubricating can defined in claim 1, wherein the rotation
driving component is configured in the shape of a lever.
4. The lubricating can defined in claim 1, wherein, an elastic
supporting component is configured between the pressing surface of
the piston and the cup bottom of the grease cup.
5. The lubricating can defined in claim 1, wherein the cup mouth of
the grease cup is installed with a dust cap, which is made of a
transparent soft material; the center of the dust cap is formed
with a covering mouth to cover the upper end bearing portion of the
pressing base; the side of the covering mouth is formed with at
least one transverse sectional slit extending outward; the
periphery of the dust cap is formed with a skirt edge bending
downward, so as to cover and fit the periphery of the cup mouth.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0001] Not applicable.
NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC Not
applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally to a lubricating
device for bearings, and more particularly to an innovative
structural design of a lubricating can.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under
37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
[0003] During usage, the roller unit in the structure of a bearing
is subject to frequent rolling friction and pressure. Therefore,
lubrication is an important procedure. At present, industrial
lubricating grease is commonly used as the lubricant for bearing
roller units. Under normal temperatures, the industrial lubricating
grease looks like paste. If the lubricating grease is gradually
filled into the bearing roller unit by hand, it takes a lot of time
and labor and the lubricating quality can not be perfectly
controlled. In view of the above problem, some manufacturers have
developed some kinds of bearing lubricating grease filling device,
shaped like a can. However, such existing devices still have some
problems and drawbacks. Examples are as follows.
[0004] "Means for packing bearings" is disclosed in U.S. Patent
Document U.S. Pat. No. 1991542. In this prior art, the grease cup
comprises a cup body and a cup cover combined together. The cover
body has a cone-shaped funnel for selective placement of bearings
of different outer diameters. Inside the cup body, a piston is
configured to slide up and down. The space formed between the
piston and the cone-shaped funnel above is to hold lubricating
grease. The center of the piston is connected with a bolt. The top
end of the bolt extends upward above the aforesaid cone-shaped
funnel and the bearing. The top end of the bolt is combined with a
pressing base. Above the pressing base, there is a nut. The nut is
screwed on the bolt. Based on such a structure, when the nut
rotates clockwise, the bolt will go upward under the guidance of
the tilted threads and subsequently drives the piston to rise. At
this time, the lubricating grease will be squeezed upward, and be
filled into the bearing structure. However, in real applications,
such kind of prior-art structure still has some problems. For
example: the grease cup must be configured in the form of two
components with a cup body and a cap body. The structure is quite
complicated. According to the patent, the cone shape of the funnel
is a necessary design for pressing the external ring frame of the
bearing, so as to block the lubricating grease and force it to go
to the rollers and into the gaps between the internal and external
ring frames of the bearing. The funnel must be made into a cone
shape and must have sufficient thickness to bear the pressure from
the bearing. Therefore, the production cost is high. In addition,
when the user rotates the nut to lubricate, the distance between
the nut and the piston to be driven is almost equal to the whole
length of the bolt (actually more than 20 centimeters). Thus, when
rotating the nut, the counter forces to be overcome include the
weight of the bolt, the weight of the piston, and the weight of the
whole lubricating grease. Hence, such a structure is difficult and
inconvenient to operate.
[0005] U.S. Patent Document U.S. Pat. No. 2,515,208 discloses a
"Wheel bearing packer". The main structure of this prior art is
similar to the above one. Therefore, it still has the drawback of
high production cost and inconvenient operation.
[0006] In addition, U.S. Patent Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,292
discloses a "bearing lubricating grease filling device". In this
prior art, a bearing clamp fixing device is configured inside the
grease cup and is capable of moving up and down. Between the
bearing clamp fixing device and the cup bottom of the grease cup, a
lubricating grease filling space is defined and formed. The top
surface of the bearing clamp fixing device is formed with a bearing
placement surface. The center of the bearing clamp fixing device is
formed with a grease filling passage that goes through vertically.
When a bearing is placed on the bearing placement surface, the
downward pressing mechanism configured above can be operated by the
user to press down the bearing together with the bearing clamp
fixing device, forcing the lubricating grease inside the grease
filling space to go upward through the aforesaid passage and into
the bearing. However, in real applications, problems are still
found in this prior art. The lubricating function can only be
accomplished by manually pressing the downward pressing mechanism
with a hand. However, as the lubricating grease is usually
paste-like industrial lubricant having very poor liquidity, the
user has to apply a massive force to cause slight flow of the
lubricating grease. Therefore, the operation takes a lot of labor
and time, and is very inconvenient. If pressing tools like vises
are used for pressing, the lubricating procedure becomes more
complicated and takes higher cost. These problems must be
overcome.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The main object of the present invention is to provide a
lubricating can, aiming to solve the technical problems by making a
breath through in the development of a practically ideal new-style
lubricating can. The lubricating can is specially designed to help
users fill paste-like lubricating grease into the roller unit
structure of a bearing. The bearing has an axle hole and an
external frame and the lubricating can comprises a grease cup, a
bolt, a piston, a pressing base, a bearing placement portion, and a
rotation driving component.
[0008] Based on the above object, the problem-solving technical
features of the present invention are as follows: The grease cup
has a closed cup bottom, an open cup mouth, and a cylindrical inner
wall between the cup bottom and the cup mouth. The inside of the
grease cup defines and forms a lubricating trough. The lubricating
trough is used to hold the lubricating grease. The bolt is fixed
inside the lubricating trough. The bolt comprises a fixed end and
an extension end, wherein, the fixed end is connected and fixed in
the center of the cup bottom, and the extension end extends toward
the cup mouth for a preset length. The bolt is formed with guiding
threads. The piston is housed inside the lubricating trough,
capable of moving up and down under a force. The piston has a
pressing surface and a bearing surface opposite each other, and a
lateral ring surface connecting the peripheries of the pressing
surface and the bearing surface, wherein, the bearing surface faces
upward toward the cup mouth, and the pressing surface faces
downward toward the cup bottom. The pressing surface is to press
the lubricating grease held inside the lubricating trough. The
lateral ring surface is configured with at least one ring seal. The
at least one ring seal and the cylindrical inner wall are tightly
pressed against each other in a slidable fashion. The center of the
piston is formed with a through hole that goes through the pressing
surface and the bearing surface. The through hole is sheathed on
the bolt from the extension end of the bolt, and the through hole
fits the bolt loosely, so that, relatively, the piston is not
driven by the bolt. Furthermore, the piston is formed with a
plurality of lubricating guide holes on the periphery of the
through hole, lined up in a circle with intervals. A plurality of
lubricating guide holes go through the pressing surface and the
bearing surface. The pressing base comprises an upper end bearing
portion and a lower end pressing portion, wherein, in the center of
the lower end pressing portion, a screw hole is formed upward. The
screw hole fits the guiding threads formed on the bolt. The lower
end pressing portion faces the bearing surface of the piston. The
upper end bearing portion is located above the cup mouth of the
grease cup mouth. The bearing placement portion is defined and
formed by the space between the lower end pressing portion of the
pressing base and the bearing surface of the piston. The bearing
placement portion is for placement of the bearing. The lower end
pressing portion of the pressing base presses downward and seals
the axle hole of the bearing. The external frame of the bearing
presses downward on the bearing surface of the piston, and defines
and forms a closed lubricating margin. The rotation driving
component is configured on the upper end bearing portion of the
pressing base. The rotation driving component can rotate when the
user applies a force, and can drive the pressing base to rotate and
move up and down.
[0009] The main efficacies and advantages of the present invention
are as follows:
[0010] First, the structural design is simplified: comparing to the
complicated structure of the prior art described above, which
comprises two components (the cup body and the cap body) and a
cone-shaped funnel, the grease cup of the lubricating can disclosed
in the present invention features the combination of cylindrical
inner wall and an open cup mouth, thereby considerably simplifies
the structural design. As a result, the production and processing
cost can be substantially reduced to offer better industrial and
economic efficiency.
[0011] Second, the operation is less labor-consuming and more
efficient: comparing to the problem of labor-consuming and
inconvenient operation of the prior art, the lubricating can
disclosed in the present invention provides an ideal grease filling
driving mechanism, wherein, the bolt is fixed inside the grease cup
and can not move, the user turns the rotation driving component to
drive the pressing base to rotate and press down the bearing and
piston to squeeze the lubricating grease into the bearing. During
the process, the bearing, piston and pressing base all generate
simultaneous downward forces because of their individual weight.
Therefore, such operating components all generate contributing
forces instead of reacting forces. As a result, when the user
applies a force to operate the rotation driving component, the
resistance is minimized, and the operation becomes easier and more
efficient. This is the advantage and practical advancement of the
present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a combined perspective view of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention of a lubricating can.
[0013] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention of a lubricating can.
[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded sectional view of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention of a lubricating can.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a combined sectional view of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention of a lubricating can.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a lubricating operational view of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention of a lubricating can.
[0017] FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of Notation 6 in FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, a preferred embodiment of the
present invention of a lubricating can is disclosed.
[0019] The lubricating can is specially designed to help an user to
inject paste-like lubricating grease 05 (normally an industrial
lubricant) into the roller unit 11 of a bearing 10. The bearing 10
has an axle hole 12 and an external frame 13. The lubricating can
comprises a grease cup 20, a bolt 30, a piston 40, a pressing base
50, a bearing placement portion 60 and a rotation driving component
70.
[0020] In particular, the grease cup 20 has a closed cup bottom 21,
an open cup mouth 22 and a cylindrical inner wall 23 between the
cup bottom 21 and the cup mouth 22. The inside space of the grease
cup 20 forms a lubricating trough 24. The lubricating trough 24 is
used to hold the lubricating grease 05.
[0021] The bolt 30 is fixed inside the lubricating trough 24. The
bolt 30 comprises a fixed end 31 and an extension end 32, wherein,
the fixed end 31 is fixed on the center of the cup bottom 21, and
the extension end 32 is extended toward the cup mouth 22 for a
preset length. The bolt 30 is formed with guiding threads 33.
[0022] The piston 40 is housed inside the lubricating trough 24 and
can move up and down under a force. The piston 40 has a pressing
surface 41 and a bearing surface 42 opposite each other, and a
lateral ring surface 43 connecting the peripheries of the pressing
surface 41 and the bearing surface 42. In particular, the bearing
surface 42 faces upward toward the cup mouth 22, and the pressing
surface 41 faces downward toward the cup bottom 21. The pressing
surface 41 is to press the lubricating grease 05 held in the
lubricating trough 24. The lateral ring surface 43 is configured
with at least one ring seal 44. The at least one ring seal 44 and
the cylindrical inner wall 23 are pressed against each other in a
slidable fashion. The center of the piston 40 is formed with a
through hole 45 that goes through the pressing surface 41 and the
bearing surface 42. The through hole 45 is sheathed on the bolt 30
from the extension end 32 of the bolt 30, and the through hole 45
fits the bolt 30 loosely, so that, relatively, the piston 40 is not
driven by the bolt 30. The piston 40 is formed with a plurality of
lubricating guide holes 46 on the periphery of the through hole 45,
lined up in a circle with intervals. The plurality of lubricating
guide holes 46 go through the pressing surface 41 and the bearing
surface 42.
[0023] The pressing base 50 comprises an upper end bearing portion
51 and a lower end pressing portion 52, wherein, in the center of
the lower end pressing portion 52 (Note: in a tapered shape), a
screw hole 53 is formed upward. The screw hole 53 fits the guiding
threads 33 formed on the bolt 30. The lower end pressing portion 52
faces the bearing surface 42 of the piston 40. The upper end
bearing portion 51 is located above the cup mouth 22 of the grease
cup 20.
[0024] The bearing placement portion 60 is defined and formed by
the space between the lower end pressing portion 52 of the pressing
base 50 and the bearing surface 42 of the piston 40. The bearing
placement portion 60 is for placement of the bearing 10. As shown
in FIG. 5, the lower end pressing portion 52 of the pressing base
50 presses downward and seals the axle hole 12 of the bearing 10.
The external frame 13 of the bearing presses downward on the
bearing surface 42 of the piston 40, and defines and forms a closed
lubricating margin 14 (only indicated in FIG. 4).
[0025] The rotation driving component 70 is configured on the upper
end bearing portion 51 of the pressing base 50. The rotation
driving component 70 can rotate when the user applies a force, and
can drive the pressing base 50 to rotate and move up and down.
[0026] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, in the present embodiment, the
bearing surface 42 of the piston 40 is configured in the shape of a
bell mouth, with its upper end diameter larger than its lower end
diameter. Alternatively, it can be configured in a shape with a
horizontal plane surface (not shown in the figure). In the present
embodiment, the bearing surface 42 is configured in the shape of a
bell mouth to meet diversified outer diameters of the bearing
products to be processed by the lubricating can and different
shapes of the surface in the axial direction. As the bearing
surface 42 is configured in the shape of a bell mouth, when the
shape of the surface in the axial direction of the bearing product
is protruding, i.e., the position of the axle hole 12 is convex,
the external frame 13 of the bearing can still press tightly
against the bearing surface 42 to form the afore-mentioned
ring-shaped closed lubricating margin 14 (only indicated in FIG.
4). In other words, if the bearing products to be processed all
have their surface shape in the axial direction with the external
frame 13 being higher, even if the bearing surface 42 is configured
in a shape with a horizontal plane surface, the formation of the
afore-mentioned lubricating margin 14 is not affected.
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, in the present embodiment, the
rotation driving component 70 is configured in the shape of a
lever. The lever and the upper end bearing portion 51 of the
pressing base 50 can be formed integrally or separately, without no
limitation. Moreover, the rotation driving component 70 can also be
shaped as any of a knob or a tool-driven part (such as a groove or
a convex block) (not shown in the figure).
[0028] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, in the present embodiment, an
elastic supporting component 80 (can be, but not limited to, a
spiral spring) is configured between the pressing surface 41 of the
piston 40 and the cup bottom 21 of the grease cup 20. When the
piston 40 is pressed to the lowest point, because of the sticky
lubricating grease 05 and the vacuum suction, it may become
difficult to take out. With the feature disclosed in the present
embodiment, the elastic supporting component 80 can help push the
piston 40 upward to be released from the sticky grease and the
vacuum suction. Thus, the piston 40 can be taken out more
easily.
[0029] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, the cup mouth 22 of the grease
cup 20 is further installed with a dust cap 90, which is made of a
transparent soft material (such as silicone). The center of the
dust cap 90 is formed with a covering mouth 91 to cover the upper
end bearing portion 51 of the pressing base 50. The side of the
covering mouth 91 is formed with at least one transverse sectional
slit 92 extending outward. Moreover, the periphery of the dust cap
90 is formed with a skirt edge 93 bending downward, so as to cover
and fit the periphery of the cup mouth 22. The benefit of adding
the dust cap 90 of a transparent and soft material in the present
embodiment is that it can effectively prevent foreign dust and
objects to go into the grease cup 20 from the open cup mouth 22.
Thus, it can offer a dust-proof effect. The benefit of using a
transparent material is that the user can clearly see the state of
the bearing 10 and piston 40 inside the grease cup 20 to control
the lubricating operation. The shape of the sectional slit 92 makes
it possible for the covering mouth 91 to be enlarged under a force
applied by the user, so that the dust cap 90 can be sheathed onto
the pressing base 50 from the rotation driving component 70 above
in the shape of large lever. Obviously, if the rotation driving
component 70 is detachable, the sectional slit 92 will not be
necessary.
[0030] Based on the above structural constitution and technical
characteristics, the real application of the lubricating can
disclosed in the present invention is as follows: firstly, as shown
in FIG. 3, the user shall fill lubricating grease 05 into the
lubricating trough 24 of the grease cup 20; then, place the piston
40 into the lubricating trough 24 and seal it above the lubricating
grease 05; meanwhile, the extension end 32 of the bolt 30 goes
upward through the through hole 45 configured in the center of the
piston 40; then, let the axle hole 12 of the bearing 10 go through
the bolt 30 from the extension end 32 till the external frame 13 of
the bearing 10 is pressed against the bearing surface 42 of the
piston 40; next, fit the screw hole 53 formed on the lower end
pressing portion 52 of the pressing base 50 downward to the guiding
threads 33 (see FIG. 4) formed on the bolt 30, till the lower end
pressing portion 52 presses downward and seals on the axle hole 12
of the bearing 10. In this state, the lubricating operation can be
conducted. Referring to FIG. 5, when the user operates the rotation
driving component 70 to continuously drive the pressing base 50 to
rotate clockwise (as indicated by Arrow L1) to cause the pressing
base 50 to move continuously downward (as indicated by Arrow L2),
the bearing 10 and piston 40 located below will be pressed to move
downward. At this time, the lubricating grease 05 held inside the
lubricating trough 24 is squeezed to go upward from the plurality
of lubricating guide holes 46 formed on the piston 40, and is
introduced into the corresponding axle hole 12 and the roller unit
11 structure of the bearing 10 located above. By now, the
lubricating operation is completed. Then, the user shall turn the
pressing base 50 counter-clockwise to allow it to rise, detach it
from the bolt 30, and resume it to the state shown in FIG. 3. Thus,
the bearing 10 filled with lubricating grease 05 can be taken
out.
* * * * *